Blitzen Trapper is awesome. If you haven’t been to one of their shows, what are you waiting for? On Sunday night the band ripped up The Kenworthy in Moscow, Idaho with their badass folk/alt country/indie rock jams that should make music lovers take note of this band’s greatness. Earlier in the afternoon, I “hosted” the inaugural Concert Confessions Backyard Horseshoe Championship. I tweeted Blitzen Trapper an invite to join us in a game before the show.  Unfortunately they couldn’t make it, but we ... Read More

MGMT played a sold-out show in Spokane on Tuesday, May 14, and thenaturalstoner and I were there (shaky cell phone camera and all) to brave a sea of skinny jeans and listen to some jams by the Grammy nominated band. Prior to this show, the only MGMT songs I was familiar with were Time to Pretend and Kids (go ahead and roll your eyes). Not that I disliked the band, they just never made it on my musical radar. Sometimes being unfamiliar with a ... Read More

Suicidal Tendencies is a legend among the punk genre for being one of the first hardcore punk bands. First formed in 1981, the band is still going strong with only frontman Mike Muir being the only remaining member. I got my first chance to see this band on May 11th at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California.   The crowd was ready for Suicidal Tendencies. I could feel the fan-base's energy just waiting to be unleashed. Even the opening bands did a great job. Normally opening ... Read More

There's no doubt about it, The Rolling Stones is one of the greatest rock bands to have ever existed. As someone from my generation, it was honor to see them as I thought I'd never get to see them. It would've been nice to see them in their prime in the 70's and 80's but since I was nowhere near born or even old enough to know who they were, I had to see them as they are now in their late ... Read More

In the thirteen years that I have been a fan of Shinedown, I don't think I have ever had one of the best performances that I had last night in Springfield, Illinois. Brent and crew sounded amazing, clear, crisp, on point. It was by far one of there best performances I've seen in all my thirteen years as a fan. I'm not saying it's the only one, way back when they first started there was some. I love being able to "hear" ... Read More

  The Breeders are in town. This past Monday the sisters Deal and Co. were at Webster Hall here in New York City on tour supporting the reissue of their 199 masterpiece Last Splash. While in the area, seemed convenient to head over to 30 Rockefeller Center and hang out with Jimmy Fallon to play a couple tracks. The band performed "Cannonball" and "Drivin on 9". You could check out video replays of the performances below. Read More

The 5th annual Golden Gods Awards hit the Club Nokia in Los Angeles on May 2nd. This was an award show specifically for rock and metal alike. Basically what the Grammys should be, but aren't. This was my 1st time attending an awards show so it was definitely interesting and something new. The show was dedicated to Slayer co-founder and guitarist Jeff Hanneman that had passed away earlier that day.   There were lots of surprises this night as well as the awards themselves. ... Read More

LouFest returns for its 4th annual Summer festival taking place in Central Fields of Forest Park in St. Louis, MO. This year they have pushed the date back a few weeks from late August to early September, meaning we may luck out with highs near 95 instead of 106. But it is St. Louis, so there is also a chance of snow and somehow even a hurricane. This year we can also welcome the idea of expanding the festival to take up ... Read More

Earlier today, some Beck news happened that doesn't involve odd collaborations or sheet music. Plans to hit the road for some acoustic dates this summer were unveiled. By some we mean six. Wantagh, NY gets Beck with Dylan and Wilco at 4 in the afternoon, and Rhode Island gets hit for the Newport Folk Festival. The finale in Brooklyn at Prospect Park (part of the Celebrate Brooklyn concert series) is NOT free, and you can get ticket information here. Check out the ... Read More

It has been roughly ten years or more since I seen Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails, it was one of the most memorable concert experiences I had. I nearly died in that pit and it felt like I was fighting for my life every second, overall it was one of the worst pits I've ever been in, would I do it again, you bet I would. Trent Reznor hasn't changed much physically in those ten years, but musically he has. His side ... Read More

Rockstar Energy Drink has announced the lineup and dates to the 2013 Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival. Headlining spots go to Alice In Chains, Jane's Addiction and Coheed and Cambria. Middle Class Rut and Walking Papers also make appearances along with others. Check out all the cool venues this tour will be hitting below, and also do not forget to hit the festivals official website for more information. Oh yeah, and customary with festivals these days, there's a little lineup announcement video that goes ... Read More

The Swedish metal band, Ghost, set out on a North American tour to support the release of their second album, Infestissumam. They made their first stop at Coachella and I had lost hope for a regular, but then they announced a show in LA and with that followed more US dates. I recently got into Ghost and was introduced to them by word of mouth by a friend and as soon I listened to them, I was hooked.     Also on this night, I ... Read More

San Francisco decided to jump into the festival mix early Tuesday, when the lineup for the sixth annual Outside Lands Music And Arts Festival was announced.  Sir Paul McCartney will headline along side Nine Inch Nails and the Red Hot Chili Peppers the weekend of August 9th through the 11th at Golden Gate Park. Other notable acts include Phoenix, Willie Nelson, Kurt Vile and The Violators, Gary Clark Jr (shocker), Young The Giant, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Band Of Horses, Fishbone and Grizzly Bear.   No ... Read More

Dizzy Wright has been grinding and paying these dues for years and he is about to come and set YOUR TOWN on fire!! The Funk Volume artist is on the Kottonmouth Kings tour along side Deuce, Snow The Product and Eskimo Callboy. Judging from the post on Dizzy's facebook, these shows have been going off. Dizzy has recently released a new E.P " The First Agreement " on Funk Volume Records. You can find it right here, and be sure to check out ... Read More

Monday, the recently reunited Black Sabbath announced four tour dates on North American soil, with stops in New Jersey, Toronto, Washington and LA. The good news about this: besides fans getting to see the newly single Ozzy along with Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi live in person, two of these four venues they'll play are awesome. The Gorge in George, WA is the closest thing to heaven us satan worshiping souls will ever get, plus the PNC Bank Arts Center in Homdel, NJ is always ... Read More

Death To All is a tribute tour to Chuck Schuldiner, frontman for the band Death who passed away in 2001 due to brain cancer. He is the the father of the metal genre we now know as "Death Metal". He is one of the greatest guitarists of all time as well as one of the biggest icons/names in metal and has influenced many guitarists that came after him. This show helps keep his memory alive. The tour is also a benefit show ... Read More

Shreveport, Louisiana gypsy, punk, country, grumble, boogie band Dirtfoot are taking to the fans to help fund their newest album, literally being recorded as this is being typed at Blade Studios in Shreveport and being produced by Brady Blade. Dirtfoot is currently in an incredibly exciting evolution stage... it actually began when Nathan Woods joined in 2011 and added electric bass to the mix. Then last Summer longtime drummer Lane Bayliss retired and they picked up a rock drummer by the name of ... Read More

Even though no one is topping the charts, some of these bands are at the top of my music stack. Because is because. Sound check timing at the prop of the door, interestingly enough to be one of the few first fans to catch a glimpse at The Meat Puppets warm up sessions, encountered at the Rochester stop. With house sounds leveled to the root of the birds eye to "the point of distraction". Wondering answers of bands ... Read More

What can I say, I could probably end my concert going career after seeing one of the greats Shirley Manson, she is the core of every girl fronted rock band that has came along today. For me she was one of the first female fronted bands that I started listening to years ago. Garbage was formed in Wisconsin in 1994, and honestly I can't remember what I was doing in 1994, but I do know when Shirley started singing "I'm only happy when ... Read More

Jerry Cantrell has abandoned all of his long hair brothers and sisters and cut his locks. That my friends is a damn shame. What's not a shame, is Alice In Chains have a new record coming out soon, and have begun their trip around the late night circuit. Last night was Jimmy Kimmel, where the band performed "Stone" off the forthcoming album 'The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here". Check out the video of that below: Alice In Chains - Stone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNZPr4Mvhkc Read More

Jay-Z is the latest of festival curators to announce the lineup via an annoying Spotify playlist. Right as the ink is dry on the sale of his shares in the New Jersey Brooklyn Nets, the rapper/sports agent announced that Made In America Festival will be returning to Philly this Labor Day Weekend. Big names include Nine Inch Nails, Queens Of The Stone Age and Beyonce`. Other acts on the stupid Spotify playlist signifying their spots at this festival include Phoenix,  The Gaslight Anthem, Kendrick ... Read More

Meat Puppets  -  04/04/13 Mercury Lounge - New York City Words/Photos/Videos - Jay Porks Back to places familiar to this guy as the Meat Puppets graced the Mercury Lounge tonight completing a back to back stint in New York City. If you've been following us here at Concert Confessions, you've read the documented tales of the band ripping through Lancaster and New Hope. Who would have thought that those shows wouldn't have even began to prepare me on what was going to take place here ... Read More

Performances like these are the reason why David Letterman isn't rumored to be replaced by anybody. Wednesday evening, The Flaming Lips stopped by the Ed Sullivan Theater and got totally weird. Wayne cradling the baby in his arms says it all... They performed "The Terror", and you can check that performance out below: http://youtu.be/ng-9vMA1moY Read More

Meat Puppets- 04/02/2013 John And Peters - New Hope, Pennsylvania Words/Photos/Videos - Jay Porks We're gonna put this in the first 25 words because it's that important: John and Peters in New Hope is the most amazing place in the world! This little place on a little street in a little town, the perfect way to dive into our 2nd night of seeing the Meat Puppets. It's this tiny bar with a sliding door leading 3 steps down to the basement in the back with ... Read More

Meat Puppets -  04/01/2013 Chameleon Club - Lancaster, PA Words/Photos/Videos - Jay Porks Opening Day. Fresh cut grass, blue skies and Baseball. It is indeed the foundation of America. Today is a different kind of Opening Day for this guy, as it's the first of four consecutive nights to be spent with my desert punk legend buddies, The Meat Puppets. They've got a new record coming out, Rat Farm, this month and all reports are that the first few shows of this Rat Farm tour ... Read More

Alight folks here we go. Lollapalooza 2013 has revealed it's full lineup. We debated sharing the headliners with you when they broke a few weeks ago (  Phoenix, The Postal Service, The National, the Killers, Mumford & Sons and Vampire Weekend). We decided to wait for the full lineup, and it turned out alright. In the artists we care about after giving the lineup a quick skim category we list these folks: Queens of the Stone Age, Nine Inch Nails ,The Cure, Ghost(not calling them B.C.!),Kendrick Lamar, ... Read More